Soho sleaze and striptease

(17-07-2017 14:59 )elgar1uk Wrote:  I enjoyed the film anyway, it was a good snapshot of London at the time, so thanks very much for letting us know about this.

I think documentaries like this are a valuable record of the times. We may say there wasn't as much of the film devoted to strip clubs as we hoped, but nevertheless it still featured a level of nudity which wouldn't be in mainstream films for several years.

(22-07-2017 03:12 )Kevin555 Wrote:  The Keyhole in Old Compton Street was there in 1962 so they are probably connected

It could well have been the same owner who had to close at the original venue and restarted in Old Compton St (in the early days of striptease the clubs were often raided by the police and sometimes this deterred landlords from renewing the lease). Unless it was a case of copying the name, which wasn't unheard of at the time.

I happened to stumble across a nice picture of Old Compton Street in 1967, although I can only see one striptease sign, at the near right.

Hi

On the Keyhole in Old Compton Street I found the below summary of legal proceedings
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk...r/C6145468

And a brief summary below

https://twitter.com/themuseumofsoho/stat...56?lang=en

Area seems to have been Gangster town in the 1960s from my searches

Also see attached image of the Keyhole

(03-08-2017 15:18 )Kevin555 Wrote:  On the Keyhole in Old Compton Street I found the below summary of legal proceedings
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk...r/C6145468

That's a good find, very good in fact. I had heard of the Gigi Club being firebombed and it looks likely that the two incidents were connected. Possibly the culprits were Maltese as some Maltese gangsters owned several of the Soho clubs at the time and may have taken to bombing some of their rivals.

(22-07-2017 03:12 )Kevin555 Wrote:  Hello,
On this by 1965 the Keyhole Masons Yard became The Scotch of St James a music venue see link below
http://the-scotch.co.uk/
The Directors Lodge still occupies the site see link below

https://worldsbeststripclubs.com/strip-c...tors-lodge

The strip clubs site is out of date it seems, as The Scotch reopened at the same address in January 2012 (more than 20 years after it closed).

(04-08-2017 02:15 )elgar1uk Wrote:  I had heard of the Gigi Club being firebombed and it looks likely that the two incidents were connected. Possibly the culprits were Maltese as some Maltese gangsters owned several of the Soho clubs at the time and may have taken to bombing some of their rivals.

According to a book called Gangland Soho the culprits were indeed Maltese. There was apparently a falling out between the owners of those clubs and a fellow member of Soho's 'Maltese Mafia' and this led to 3 of their clubs being petrol bombed, the 2 already mentioned and the Americana.

(08-08-2017 15:50 )CIA Snooper Wrote:  

(04-08-2017 02:15 )elgar1uk Wrote:  I had heard of the Gigi Club being firebombed and it looks likely that the two incidents were connected. Possibly the culprits were Maltese as some Maltese gangsters owned several of the Soho clubs at the time and may have taken to bombing some of their rivals.

According to a book called Gangland Soho the culprits were indeed Maltese. There was apparently a falling out between the owners of those clubs and a fellow member of Soho's 'Maltese Mafia' and this led to 3 of their clubs being petrol bombed, the 2 already mentioned and the Americana.

Hi,

Also remember reading the Richardson's and Frankie Fraser had the slot machines in Soho

Turning back to Frankie Fraser in the early 1990s I worked in Islington and saw him most evenings taking his small dog for a walk, inspite of his reputation he always appeared to be a very pleasant person

(08-08-2017 15:50 )CIA Snooper Wrote:  There was apparently a falling out between the owners of those clubs and a fellow member of Soho's 'Maltese Mafia'

In this case it looks like the Keyhole in Old Compton Street wasn't connected to the Keyhole in Masons Yard, as my friend who used to go to the Masons Yard club remembers the owner being called Sam Bloom and he definitely wasn't Maltese.

(09-08-2017 13:37 )Kevin555 Wrote:  Also remember reading the Richardson's and Frankie Fraser had the slot machines in Soho

The Krays were also active in Soho and had a club of their own in Gerrard St, The Hideaway which they renamed El Morocco.